For more than 30 years, the Care Closet Food Pantry has supported families in the small communter community of Evansville located just northwest of Janesville. What began in the basement of a local church has grown into one of the community’s most trusted resources, helping ensure that neighbors facing difficult times have access to food, clothing, household essentials, and, perhaps most importantly, a caring community ready to help.
Today, thanks to more than 70 volunteers and a network of community partners, the Care Closet supports approximately 75 households each month. At the center of it all is Manager Jeanette Jones, who has spent the last ten years helping neighbors find the resources they need to get through difficult times.
“Our mission is pretty simple,” Jeanette said. “Neighbors caring for neighbors with dignity and grace.”
That mission comes to life every week as volunteers prepare food orders, answer phones, stock shelves, and welcome families who may be struggling to make ends meet. Many of the guests Jeanette works with are balancing rising costs, limited incomes, and the everyday challenges of caring for a family.
One of those guests is Carrissa.
“It helps us a lot,” Carrissa shared. “When we’re on such a limited budget, we don’t know what we can afford from one day to the next. We appreciate everything Second Harvest does for us.”
Stories like Carrissa’s are why the Care Closet exists. For Jeanette, helping families put food on the table is about breaking down barriers that prevent them from living a full life.
“They’ve got enough things to worry about,” she said. “Food shouldn’t be that thing they have to worry about. Food shouldn’t be the thing they’re wondering about—whether they’re going to have milk or cereal or diapers. We want to take that weight off their shoulders.”
Making that possible requires more than volunteers and local support. It also requires a strong partnership with Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin.
The Care Closet receives food deliveries from Second Harvest twice each month, along with access to food rescue programs, training, resources, and support. Jeanette estimates that roughly half of the food distributed by the pantry comes through Second Harvest and its programs.
“We wouldn’t be able to have all the things that we have in the pantry and share with our neighbors without Second Harvest,” Jeanette said. “It gives us the opportunity to do more and makes our money go further.”
More than the food itself, Jeanette values knowing that the Care Closet has a true partner standing beside them as they help meet the needs of Evansville residents.
“It’s like having Second Harvest in your back pocket,” she said. “I have another partner helping me take care of everything here.”
For a small-town pantry operating out of a former grocery store and relying almost entirely on volunteers, that support is critical. Without it, meeting the needs of Evansville families would be far more difficult.
Yet for Jeanette, the Care Closet is about more than food. It is about community.
“It’s the heart and soul of this community,” she said. “Whenever there’s a need, people rise to the occasion.”
With your support, Second Harvest and partners like the Care Closet can continue making sure that families throughout Evansville have access to the food they need and the support they deserve. Together, they are proving that when neighbors care for neighbors, entire communities grow stronger.
